Hasan Çelebi (Karahisari's adopted son; Hasan b. Abdullah, Hasan Halife)
Istanbul
Hasan Çelebi was of Circassian origin. Probably brought from the Caucasus as a slave, he was bought by Ahmed Karahisari, who later freed him, treated him as his son and taught him the six scripts. He was therefore also called 'Karahisari's servant' and, being the closest to his master's style, Hasan Halife. After Karahisari's death he signed as Hasan b. Abdullah. He is credited with inscriptions in the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, though accounts differ on which are his and which his master's, and with all the inscriptions of the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne. Evliya Çelebi says he lost his sight while supervising the Selimiye dome work, but Müstakimzade praised a kıta by him dated 1002/1594, so the story is doubtful. In his mature years he moved to Şeyh Hamdullah's manner. He died after 1594 and was buried beside his teacher at Sütlüce.
Achievements
- Wrote all the inscriptions of the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (built 1568-1574); those on tile and marble survive.
- Wrote inscriptions in the Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul; sources differ on how they divide between him and Karahisari.
- Was the calligrapher closest to Karahisari's style, hence the name Hasan Halife.
- In later life turned to Şeyh Hamdullah's manner; an en'am in naskh in this manner is in the Topkapı Palace Library (Yeni Yazmalar 929).
- Wrote the death date on his master's gravestone.
Taught by: Ahmed Şemseddin Karahisari
Taught: İsmail Efendi
His work
No work of certain attribution is yet in an open collection we may publish.
Write in the tradition this hand shaped.
Write in this tradition now →Living calligraphers you can buy from — signed originals on paper, from AED 550: Anwar Alhulwani (Thuluth) · Ahmed Alhawary (Jali Thuluth, Naskh) · Rasha Kasim (Kufi) — or every Thuluth piece the store makes: Thuluth collection.
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'HASAN ÇELEBİ' (1997): origin, names, Süleymaniye and Selimiye, Evliya's blindness story, burial islamansiklopedisi.org.tr
- TDV Karahisari article: Hasan Çelebi as adopted son and student, wrote the date on Karahisari's gravestone islamansiklopedisi.org.tr
- English Wikipedia (Karahisari article): Circassian adopted son, d. 1594 en.wikipedia.org
- Commons record crediting him with the last 80 pages of the Süleyman Qur'an commons.wikimedia.org
Written by the MASHQ studio · last updated 2026-10-05. Further reading, the standard references in English: Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh University Press, 2006) · Annemarie Schimmel, Calligraphy and Islamic Culture (New York University Press, 1984) · Yasin Hamid Safadi, Islamic Calligraphy (Thames and Hudson, 1978).